Leanne Bouchereau | Assistant Director

I had been working for an agency when I was sent to GreythornECC to work for a couple of weeks while an educator was on leave. Everyone made me feel welcome and my time was very positive and a lot of fun.

After my placement was up, I was working at another Childcare Centre when I was told I had a phone call and it was Michelle on the other end (there were no mobiles around back then). She informed me that there was a fulltime position available at GreythornECC and she wanted me to apply, so we organised a time and date for an interview. The day before the interview, I received another phone call from Michelle, and she gave me a list of the questions I would be asked during the interview the following day!!!!!

From the first day I walked through the big red doors at GreythornECC on Trentwood Avenue as a permanent educator 20 years ago, I was really made to feel at home in the workplace. I love that GreythornECC is a community managed Centre, supporting families and bringing them together with an assortment of social events and get togethers that are organised throughout the year.

I am now working 3 days in the office and work from home one day a week. Michelle and I have worked alongside one another for quite a while now and I feel that we complement each other in our working relationship. Michelle is the ‘thinker’ and I am the ‘doer’, with Michelle coming up with creative ideas and I am the one to implement them which makes us such a great team. We still have our ‘moments’ which don’t take too long for us to sort out….

I have worked with Michelle, Mally, Lizzy and Mahnaz for the best part of 20 years and we probably know far too much about each other than most people do. The four of them have been there for my engagement and then marriage to my husband Marty and the purchase of our first home. It was a very difficult 10-year struggle for us to have a child, but the support and encouragement from the gang of four did not go unnoticed.

It was a pure joy to finally fall pregnant and have our much longed for baby, which has pretty much been called their baby too as the four of them have been there every step of the way…
With new faces coming and going, I think this is one of the best teams of educators we have had at GreythornECC in a long time.

We all get along so well together, have a good laugh during the day and out of hours too. Life is never dull here at GreythornECC, which makes it all the more enjoyable coming to work knowing that you are going to have fun, but learn something knew and challenging at the same time...

Prior to COVID-19, Marty, Kaiden and I enjoyed spending time in the outdoors kayaking and paddle boarding around Lilydale Lake. Weekends away visiting family in the High Country or camping on the Murray River would be our favourite things to do together as a family.